


Part 2 - Secrets

by elfin



Series: The Poetry of Magic [2]
Category: Jonathan Creek (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-10
Updated: 2013-04-10
Packaged: 2017-12-08 02:54:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/756163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfin/pseuds/elfin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonathan joins Adam on tour as their connection deepens</p>
            </blockquote>





	Part 2 - Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> first published in 2000, edited for re-issue

"At least this time, I was expecting it."

Jonathan looked up when Adam made himself as comfortable as possible in the auditorium seat next to him, sixth row back from the stage. Playing his pen through his fingers, he smiled nervously. 

"Listen, about last night...."

Adam kept his eyes pinned on the activity around the stage. "You're regretting it."

"No.” He barely stammered. “I was going to say last night was great. And... thank you." Not once did he look up from the notepad rested against his knees. He felt Adam nudge his shoulder. 

“You don’t have to thank me. And... anytime.”

"Guys?" They must have resembled two school children caught talking in class as they looked up guiltily at Chris, their tour manager. "Christ, look at you two! Have you got a dirty mag under there or something?" 

~

**Four Weeks Later**

Life was starting to feel like the world’s slowest roller coaster, with its ups and down spread so far apart that it was possible to doze off between them. Since that night that neither of them had pretended hadn’t happened but that neither had made the slightest move to repeat, Jonathan had been living from day to day, caught between just waiting and simply forgetting about it. Things had changed. Adam had been more attentive, more appreciative, acting less like a knob and more like the human being Jonathan actually liked.

Twelve thirty-five. 

Finally, Adam was out of the country for the start of his whistle-stop European tour. Five cities in twelve days. Utter madness, and very Adam. 

The last four weeks had been the equivalent of stepping through a minefield of emotions and on one hand Jonathan was glad of the break. They'd been working together as synchronously as ever, putting together a new show for the short tour that would end back at the Prince of Wales in a fortnight. Being so close to him was normal but after that night it was just as much of a tease as Maddy’s flirting but short of throwing himself at the man he didn’t know how to kindle the flame that had burnt so bight for that single night. He wasn’t ever that he wanted to but what was worse was that he didn’t know if Adam wanted to.

Late at nights he felt the same way he imagined a great many of Adam's former lovers had felt; confused, bemused, a little used but then he was used to that. He just kept remembering Adam’s expert touch, his sex-starved body wouldn’t let him forget, and it was starting to drive him a little bit crazy. The orgasm he’d had at Adam’s hand, his own just couldn’t match. But if that was all he wanted, he didn’t feel right just asking Adam for sex even if Adam wasn’t likely to deny him. 

So when the clock ticked up to twenty to one that Tuesday afternoon, Jonathan was sitting on the floor of his lounge leaning back against the sofa, legs out in front of him with his ankles crossed watching the second hand of one of his clocks shave time off his holiday second by second. Two weeks. All Adam had asked was that he keep his mobile switched on and leave a contact number if he decided to go abroad. He never went aboard but he'd actually considered it. He'd even thought about flying to the states to see his parents, but that idea hadn't been entertained for long. 

Last night they'd had a final run through a couple of points that had been bugging him about the new tricks created specifically for the tour. Adam had dropped him at Victoria station at eleven and thanked him. And that had been it. Sitting on the train watching the dark countryside roll by he’d become more depressed with every minute. He kept looking at his mobile and thinking about changing his mind, taking Adam up on his offer to join the entourage. But he wasn’t one to be impulsive, he’d never made the call, leading to an afternoon sitting on the floor watching the first minutes of his vacation tick by.

Downstairs on the kitchen table was the envelope Adam had given him last night, containing the exact details of the tour; the theatres, hotels and their respective phone numbers. It remained unopened. He'd had no reason to open it and doubted if he would. He couldn’t think of a reason why he’d need to call.

Somehow, by some miracle, he'd managed to keep Maddy unaware of what had happened between he and Ada,. She'd been around as usual, but not at the same time as Adam because he reckoned if she saw them together she might clock that something had changed. The man shot to death in the park had come to nothing, and as far as Jonathan knew she'd had no stories of interest since then. 

Speak of the devil.... 

The phone's ring stirred him, and he reached for the handset lying on the floor a couple of feet away.

"Jonathan Creek."

"Jonathan!” Of course it would be Maddy. “Hi! Busy?"

"No."

"Mind if I can over? Only, something's come up."

He couldn’t find a reason to say no, there wasn’t any point anyway. "Fine."

"Right, good. I'll see you in a bit."

"Great." He pressed the 'end call' button, put the handset back on the floor and counted to ten. 

The front door opened, and she called up, "I knew you wouldn't mind." 

Clambering to his feet, Jonathan mooched down the spiral staircase to the kitchen. "Hi."

"'Ello." Amused by her own 'phoning him from outside his own windmill' joke, she smiled smugly, but he didn't see it. He was busying himself by filling the kettle and plugging it in, searching out two clean mugs while she made herself comfortable at the table.

"What is it this time then? Locked room? Sealed container? Bullets? Knives?" He fetched two mugs down from the cupboard.

"Nothing like that." He turned and leaned against the cupboard, watched her fold her arms on the table and reach for the envelope Adam had given him the previous night. She rotated it between her fingers. "So, who's giving you their house key?" she teased and he was surprised to hear just a hint of jealousy in her voice. 

"What?" 

As soon as she held up the envelope he could see the dark shape. "There's a Yale key in here."

The rush of happiness was completely disproportionate to the facts and he internally reprimanded himself. "Probably wants me to feed the plants," he muttered, taking the envelope from her and opening it. The Yale key dropped out and he tapped out two pages of plain A4 paper. Printed on one were the details of the tour, just as Adam had said. To relieve her obvious curiosity he handed that to Maddy. On the second page Adam had scrawled both his alarm code and a note; 

_'Jonathan, the house is yours whenever. Make yourself at home. I'll call if the exploding banana fails! See you in 2 weeks. Love ya, A.  
PS. feed the plants to the tiger?' _

He composed himself quickly enough to twist the truth and tell her that he'd been right; Adam wanted him to feed the plants. And then he smiled and found he couldn’t stop smiling as he slipped the key along with the second page into his pocket and made the coffee. 

"Have you been smoking something?"

"What?" He pulled out the seat next to her. He couldn't believe how much better he felt, how much happier. He was angry about himself that just a smidgen of trust and affection could bring about such a change in his mood, and determined to give Maddy his complete and undivided attention for the next two weeks. "Come on then, you can't keep me in suspense all afternoon." 

~ 

By seven that evening the floor of the second storey of Jonathan's windmill home was carpeted in photocopies and print outs all to do with a spooky old house known as 'Bode Manor', located somewhere on the Hog's Back near Guildford. Recently the place had been bought and converted into a five-star hotel. But a rapidly growing number of guests claiming they'd heard and seen a ghostly apparition on the staircase was threatening business. And a couple of days ago one of the patrons had died of a heart attack following such an event. Desperate, the owners of the hotel had called Maddy's publisher, Barry, and begged him to persuade Maddy and her associate Jonathan Creek to at least glance at the incidents. 

"I went through a phase of enjoying ghost stories when I was about ten," Jonathan told her wistfully, smiling his thanks as she handed him a plate with a knife and fork. She'd offered to cook, being as it was her case he was currently looking into. It had taken time, but she'd managed to memorise a couple of vegetarian recipes for him. And without doubt he had the most stocked kitchen she'd ever worked in. "There was a place called Borley Rectory. It was plagued by various ghosts and ghostly noises, screams, sobs, laughter, the old footsteps in the corridor. Scientists went and stayed there, trying to find some explanation of what so many people were claiming was happening. One night, one of them saw a woman floating through the garden one evening. When they looked in to it, it turned out to be a pillar of mosquitoes following the underground stream." 

Maddy stared at him from the sofa. "Another of your 'not everything you see is actually what it appears to be' examples?" 

He smiled at her. "I don't believe in ghosts. So... these guests must have seen and heard something real. Something that occurs either naturally - a shadow, a noise in the pipes, the heating system, something like that - or something man-made, for a reason."

She grinned. "Like 'Scooby Doo'?"

Jonathan mirrored her gleeful expression. "Just like 'Scooby Doo' in fact. Maybe we should be searching for treasure buried in the garden somewhere." He considered that. "In fact, maybe we should be delving deeper into the business dealings of the hotel owner."

He reached for one of the folders she'd brought over, one that was hiding under a photo of the dead woman. As he picked it up, the phone rang. 

"Jonathan Creek."

"Hi."

His heart began just beat just a little bit faster. "Hey, Adam. How's Milan?"

"Romantic. Wet. You'd love it."

"You can take me someday," Jonathan quipped, dropping the folder back on the floor. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to fill you in on how things are shaping up. The last of the tickets have sold in Lyon and Amsterdam."

"So the whole tour's a sell out? That's fantastic. Maybe you should go for longer next time."

"Aw, I'm hurt. I thought you'd be missing me."

"Desperately, Adam. But I think I'll survive." 

He heard an almighty crash in the background and Adam swear softly. "Sorry, look I have to go. I'll call from Reykjavik?"

"No problem. Good luck tonight." There was a pause, just slightly too long. "Goodnight, Adam." He made himself end the call and drop the handset to the floor. Silently, he started into his food. 

"Everything all right?"

Jonathan looked up at Maddy as if she'd just reminded him that she was there. "Yes. Sorry. Just Adam informing me that the last of the tickets have been sold."

"That's great news."

He nodded his agreement and took another mouthful, putting down his fork to pick up the report again and open it out on the floor beside him. But despite trying, he couldn't concentrate any longer on whatever was on the pages he was staring at. Finally, he placed his plate on the floor and got to his feet. 

Maddy watched him disappear down the stairs, and a couple of seconds later, she heard the fridge door closing and the clinking of glasses. When he returned, he was carrying two bottles of white wine, two glasses and a bottle opener.

"Jonathan, are you sure everything's all right?"

"Yes. Just a thought...." He looked at her directly. "Do you... fancy staying over tonight?" 

~

Maddy woke first. For a little while she lay still, watching Jonathan sleep. But finally she had to get up. Nature was calling and was being quite demanding about it. Taking Jonathan's warm grey dressing gown from the back of the door she tied it around herself and padded quietly downstairs. Their clothes were littered over the floor of the lounge. 

She'd sat and watched him drink his way through one and a half bottles of wine. He didn't usually drink such excessive amounts unless he was with Adam, so she'd assumed something was up. But he wouldn't talk to her about whatever it was, kept denying that anything was wrong and finally she'd decided just to take his mind off whatever it was obviously on. In his inebriated state he was a pushover. She made all the moves and they'd wound up making love on the leather sofa. Warmer there than the kitchen table, she supposed. 

Piece by piece she located and retrieved various items of clothing. As she rescued Jonathan's shirt from the table lamp she was interrupted by the phone's familiar ring. Dumping the small pile of clothes onto the sofa she searched the floor for the telephone handset, finding it under her camisole. 

"Jonathan Creek's place."

"Maddy?" There was a slight hesitation. "Adam."

"Hi! How did the show go last night?"

"Great, thanks for asking. Is Jonathan about?"

"He's still in bed, I'll shout him for you."

Another hesitation. "No. It's okay. I'll ring back later. Nothing important. Thanks, Maddy." And he hung up. Slightly odd, but then Adam wasn’t always all there.

A few minutes later, Jonathan padded downstairs, obviously in search of his shirt. "Who was that?"

"Adam." She handed him his shirt. "Acting a bit strangely if you ask me. Said he'd ring back later." 

Jonathan frowned. The temptation to call the hotel where he knew Adam was staying was tempered with the considerably high probability that a stranger of the opposite sex would answer the phone there too. He decided to leave it. Shrugging into his shirt, he asked her, "So what’s the plan for today?" 

~

'Bode Manor' was a Tudor house steeped in history and squatting in a sprawling park through which the driveway wound for half a mile from the gates before the black and white frontage rose into view. 

Left to his own devices to check the place out, Jonathan found himself standing at the foot of the grand staircase which seemed to be at the heart of the mystery. It went up in front of him for ten wide steps, and then along a balcony landing across the length of the hallway before steps went up again and out of sight. 

He climbed the first set of stairs and looked along the landing. A red, intermittently flashing light in the top-left corner of the ceiling caught his attention. Its counterpart flashed in sync at the other end of the landing, where the stairs carried on up. Part of the alarm system, he supposed. But if that was the case, what was the purpose of the other small black boxes partially hidden in each bottom corner? Kneeling down by the nearest one, he saw it all. 

All he needed now was a name and a reason.

~ 

That evening a whole new set of papers covered the floor of the windmill's lounge: files on the hotel's owners, details of their other businesses, hotels and restaurants, and all their staff lists for the last two years. There were stacks of papers, but at least Jonathan had a vague clue about what he was looking for. At eight, Maddy went out to locate the nearest Indian take-away. Jonathan had some idea that there was one in the nearby town of Billingshurst but when she found the town on the map she declared that there must be a closer one. She'd been gone forty minutes when the phone rang. 

"Jonathan Creek."

"I know." 

There was a smile in Adam's voice that made Jonathan grin. "Aren't you supposed to be on stage?"

"Half an hour. I've been thinking."

"Uhho...." 

"Why don't you fly out to Reykjavik tomorrow? Meet us there. It's a fantastic city, you'd love it."

"Adam, that's mad. Besides, we're in the middle of something...."

"Two days, Jonathan, fly out tomorrow and back on Thursday. This tour's success is all down to you, you deserve to see..."

"All right!" Jonathan couldn't believe he was going to agree to this. "All right, if you insist." He felt like laughing. "When?"

"IcelandAir flight REK006 leaving Heathrow Terminal Two at eleven am tomorrow. First class, window seat."

Jonathan did laugh. "See you at the hotel?"

"I'll meet you at the airport."

As he placed the handset on the carpet, he heard the door open and Maddy call up. "Found one!" 

A few minutes later she came up with three bags from the Indian take-away and one from the off-licence. Jonathan cleared a space on the floor and opened two of the bottles of Cobra Lager. 

"I... Adam just phoned."

"Oh right, how is he?"

"He asked me to fly out to Reykjavik tomorrow morning, for the show tomorrow night."

She stopped in mid-bite into her popudum. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's just for one night. I'll fly back on Thursday."

"You said yes?"

"He'd already booked the flight...."

"We're in the middle of this! You said this afternoon that you knew how, you just didn't know who or why! And now you're just going to fly off and leave me?!"

"I'll take some stuff with me and read it on the plane." He smiled at her. "When you pick me up at the airport on Thursday I'll tell you who and why. On Friday we can go and talk to the hotel owners and you can pick up the reward."

She sighed. Truth be told, it wasn't the fact they were in the midst of this case that had rattled her. It was Adam calling and once again, Jonathan jumping at his command. "Do you always do as you're told?" It was out before she could bite down on it.

"No, Mum. But the last time I left this country was three years ago to see my parents. It might be fun to go out somewhere so totally different for the night." Maddy munched, sulking, and he tried to pacify her. "Come on. It'll be good to see the show on tour, see how all my hard work's panned out. Adam's springing for the flight and the hotel. I couldn't really say no, could I?"

"I suppose...." Aimlessly, she rifled through a few of the papers next to her feet. Something caught her eye. "Did you say you were looking for someone who'd been sacked?"

"It's one possibility. Why? What've you found?" 

She pulled a couple of the papers out from under her Naan Bread and handed them over. 

~

Adam didn't meet Jonathan at the airport, but he did at least sent a driver - Owen - and a hired limo. 

"Adam's at the theatre," Owen explained to Jonathan on the way through central Reykjavik. "He asked me to take you to the hotel and then to bring you to the theatre. Some problem with... exploding fruit?"

Jonathan nodded. "Banana." Staring out of the window he wondered why he'd thought Adam would fly him all the way out here for any other reason. He thought about Monday night, about he and Maddy, and wondered if maybe he should commit to some sort of relationship with her. Apart from not being sure what she wanted, what was stopping him? But he knew the answer to that without even thinking about it. He just wouldn't admit it to himself. 

The hotel was beautiful, and Adam had reserved him a suite for the night, no expense spared. He supposed he should be grateful. Dropping his bag to the floor he left the room again and let Owen drive him to the theatre.

Adam was wiping mashed fruit from his face when Jonathan saw him, and once he’d got the banana out of his eyes he noticed approaching the stage and his face lit up. Jonathan wished he could believe in that expression but he knew better.

"Jonathan! Am I glad to see you!"

“I bet.” He didn’t try to keep the tired sarcasm from his voice. "Did it wreck the show?"

But there was something in the way that Adam stared at him. "What?"

"Last night, when it didn't work."

Adam was still staring, confusion all over his face. "It worked last night. The one in Milan was fine. This one was installed this morning." 

"Oh. Right!" Of course. There were two technical crews on the tour. The crew who had been in Milan would now be on their way to Amsterdam. He smiled, happy again as he threw his brown leather coat on the stage and hoisted himself up on to the boards with renewed energy. Crouching down next to Adam, smiling conspiratorially, he reached around the back of the table on which the banana bowl had been set and moved a couple of switches into their correct positions. "Now try." 

The trick worked perfectly. 

"Where would I be without you?" Adam led Jonathan through the labyrinth of corridors at the back of the theatre to the dressing rooms. "I'm sorry I wasn't at the airport. We couldn't stop the damn banana from going off."

"Don't worry about it. The hotel's fantastic, by the way."

"Is the room all right?"

"All right? It's got more square feet than my house!" 

“That’s because you live in a windmill.”

Adam pushed open the door to his dressing room. A huge pile of photos on the dressing table awaited his signature, while a second pile of cards and gifts remained untouched. Opening the mini fridge he took a bottle of champagne and handed it to Jonathan. 

"I just need to wash this banana off." 

Pouring himself a glass of bubbly (Adam never drank before a show), Jonathan sat himself down and lifted Adam's pen from the pocket of his jacket where it was flung over the back of one of the chairs. He called out, "Do you want these photographs signing?" 

From the en suite bathroom, Adam shouted back, "You don't have to, I didn't fly you out here to work, despite what you might have thought."

Jonathan felt suddenly guilty. Sometimes it paid to remember that Adam wasn't as callous and blind as he made himself out to be. "Sorry." He picked up the first twenty photos and started signing the signature he'd learned to fake years ago. 

By the time Adam stepped out of the small en-suite, Jonathan had finished the first set of photos and had started on the second. 

"You're a star. Thank you."

"Hardly a difficult chore." Sitting sipping champagne and signing photos of Adam while his friend read through the reviews gathered by another member of the staff, Jonathan thought that on the whole he led an easy life. "Maddy wasn't impressed, you flying me out here just for a night on the town."

Adam chuckled. "What is it that you're in the middle of?"

"Oh, some disgruntled ex-employee of a posh hotel has been pulling off a few tricks with a surround sound system on a spooky staircase. Not a bad job, either. It's given me a few ideas for the new season in London."

"I've often wondered how you think up all this stuff."

Jonathan grinned. "You know, it just... pops in there." 

~

The show that night went without a hitch. The banana exploded on cue. Adam took three curtain calls and came away with enough underwear to open a boutique. 

"What is it with women throwing their knickers?" he asked Jonathan as they went back to Adam's dressing room. "Not that I'm complaining but...."

"They're never your size?" 

Adam smirked as he lifted two bottles of chilled champagne from the fridge and handed one to Jonathan. They popped the corks in unison, showering one another with fizz before taking matching swigs. The air between them sizzled and Jonathan’s latent arousal rose a notch.

"Welcome to Reykjavik," Adam toasted him. “Thank you for coming.”

Jonathan tapped the base of his bottle against Adam’s. This was the good life and it had very little to do with the Cristal. "I ought to tour with you more often."

"Yes! I always ask...."

"I know, I know." He turned as the door opened and Gayle – Adam’s PA - and Mike – their stage manager - danced in. Gayle immediately threw herself over Adam and his arm went around her as easily as usual, leaning away from him to give Jonathan a peck on the cheek.

"Are you two joining us for a night in the cold, dark city?" she asked, and Jonathan was happy to at least be included in her invitation.

“That’s why I’m here,” he quipped, and caught Adam smirking at him for the lie that it was.

~ 

Their first stop was a vodka bar that Mike knew of from the last time he'd visited the city. The place itself resembled the dining room of a public school. Jonathan, Gayle and Adam sat at the end of one long table while Mike went to the bar. He returned empty handed, but was being followed by a barman who placed a five-foot long plank of wood onto the wooden table in front of them. The plank contained a row of small shot glasses, each containing a double vodka shot of unidentified flavour.

They each chose a glass and counted to three. The vodka was downed and the glasses banged on the table. Adam almost spat his out.

"What the hell was that supposed to be?"

Next to him, Jonathan picked up the now empty glass and sniffed it. "Marmite?"

Mike frowned. "Didn't see that flavour on the board." He shrugged. "Next?" 

Six vodkas each later, Jonathan was ready for something that he could identify without before he drank it. They moved on to the next bar. 

~ 

"Ready?"

Jonathan grinned across, trying not to laugh. "Ready."

As one, he and Adam each picked up the first glass in their own rows of seven halves of mulled wine and started to drink. Racing down the rows, Jonathan beat Adam by one quarter of a glass. The crowd that had formed around them cheered and applauded. Sitting up on the bar behind Adam, Gayle linked her arms around his neck and gave him a commiseration kiss. Then she jumped down and stood in front of Jonathan to plant a smooch on his mouth that was long and deep. 

Responding automatically to a beautiful woman kissing him, Jonathan wrapped his arms around her and prolonged the contact, to the further amusement and joy of the crowd. Only when he glanced up, when he loosened his hold on her, did his eyes meet Adam's and he saw the smouldering expression there. His body reacted fiercely to that and for a moment he was rooted to the spot where he stood, frozen in place. 

Unknowingly breaking the tension, Mike strode in between them and put enough money down on the bar for a round of tall, cold lagers. 

~

How Adam did it, Jonathan would never know. But by the time they'd reached the fifth bar - a noisier, brighter place called 'Gallery' - Gayle was paying Mike more attention than she was paying Adam and her interest was definitely being reciprocated. 

They left 'Gallery' at around two thirty am with Adam declaring he was exhausted. He had flown in from Milan that morning after all and done two rehearsals and a live show since. Their small group wove their way back to the hotel. Gayle and Mike were all other one another and Adam and Jonathan were walking close enough to be more than aware of each other. 

Once back at the hotel they waited for the other two to chose a room for the night, his or hers, before pausing between the doors of their own rooms. Biting his bottom lip, Jonathan looked up into Adam's face and knew that there wasn't going to be a discussion. 

"Yours," he stated before the other man could ask. "That way, I can leave when you're asleep." He was trying to be funny, raising his eyebrows and waiting for a witty, alcohol-tempered response. But Adam simply smiled a little sadly, nodded, and unlocked the door to his suite. 

As soon as the door closed, Jonathan decided enough was enough and he wasn’t about to wait for Adam to make the first move. He pinned Adam against the wall, mouth finding his, tongue begging entrance. Adam dropped his room key to the thick carpet and Jonathan felt strong, possessive arms wrap around him under his coat, enveloping him. They took the kiss deeper, Adam’s tongue tracing the contours of Jonathan's mouth as if he was learning his way around. Fingernails scraped down his back, through his sweater, not nearly hard enough for him, but with adequate pressure so as to convince Adam that Jonathan was as desperate for him now as he had been for Jonathan the last time. 

Adam ended the kiss and tangled his fingers in Jonathan’s curly hair, pulling his head back gently. Jonathan growled as wet kisses were dropped to his jaw and neck, tiny bites to his throat going straight to his dick. 

Dumping their coats, removing outer layers of warm clothing as they went, they somehow made it to the bed, unbuttoning and unzipping. Adam got Jonathan's shirt off first, diving in to kiss bare skin, hampering Jonathan’s efforts to get to Adam. 

Clothes were dropped or thrown, landing in small piles on the floor around the bed. They kissed one another frantically, lips meeting chilled flesh as they wrapped around one another, hands exploring areas of interest. And then, as the warmth of the room and the sheer volume of drink they’d imbibed began to take effect, the excitement drained from them. Adam slowed first, alcohol and exhaustion combining to over-rule his lust until he simply fell asleep, lying on his side, face to face with Jonathan who smiled to himself before settling down on his back and let his own body fall into blissful unconsciousness.

~

A couple of hours later, Adam woke. The body that had been spooned up behind him was moving away and out from under the blankets they'd managed to snuggle under. Sighing softly to himself he lay still, keeping his eyes closed while a door opened and closed. His first, defeated thought was that Jonathan had once again abandoned him in the darkness. But the sounds of a man peeing on porcelain were unmistakable and half a minute later the door opened and closed again and a warm body curled back around him under the covers. 

Slowly, he turned over, backing Jonathan up slightly, coming face to face with his one-time lover. "We fell asleep," he stated pointlessly.

Jonathan smiled, a little self-consciously. "You fell asleep first."

"I'm awake now." Leaning in hesitantly, Adam stole a kiss, watching Jonathan's expression carefully when he pulled back.

"Me too." 

With a smile, he closed the gap between them, wrapped one leg over Jonathan’s and slid their erections together as if to prove just how awake he was. In contrast to the frenzy of what they'd shared in the early hours of the morning, this kiss was slow and luxurious. Adam took his time, tracing the outline of Jonathan's lips before dipping between them, stroking his tongue over Jonathan’s before pulling back to nip at his bottom lip. He kissed a path down his throat, taking the gold chain around his neck between his teeth for a moment before letting go and continuing to his shoulders. 

Bringing his hands up finally, Adam rolled Jonathan on to his back and straddled him, carefully continuing his exploration, taking his left nipple between his lips and sucking gently. Jonathan arched up into the contact, hands reaching for the back of Adam's head, urging him on. Experimentally, Adam bit down slightly, groaning in delight at Jonathan's small cries of pleasure. Raising his head, he grinned, turning his face to kiss his lover's palm as Jonathan's hands framed his face for a second. 

Jonathan gazed up, catching Adam's hair between his fingers and holding him for a moment. "That night, at your place, I thought that was a one-night stand," he stated a little breathlessly.

Adam regarded him lopsidedly. "Only if you'd wanted it to be."

"What was it? For you."

"It was desire, need. It still is. I want you." He tried to read the impenetrable gaze. "Is that enough?"

A moment's hesitation, than Jonathan nodded with a smile that actually looked almost genuine. "That's plenty." 

Unconvinced but honestly not wanting to get a conversation right then, Adam lowered his mouth to Jonathan's chest again, this time assaulting the right nipple in a similar manner, enjoying every sound he easily coaxed from his lover. He bit again, harder this time, first one nipple then the other, listening carefully until he heard the first tinges of pain in Jonathan's cries, finding the line at which pleasure turned into something darker. 

Not wanting to cross that line quite yet, he relented, sitting up and shifting until he could once again devour his Jonathan’s responsive mouth. Such an incredible kisser, Adam wondered what other skills those lips could be taught. Ending the kiss, licking Jonathan's lips, he tried to gauge the expression on darkly framed face. Quietly, he whispered, "Am I your first man?"

Jonathan nodded quickly, a little nervous but the trust was clear in his eyes. He wanted to say ‘trust me’, but he didn’t. In one motion, graceful despite the alcoholic fog still clouding his judgement, Adam moved up the bed until his knees rested either side of Jonathan's head and his hard, substantial cock pressed to those full lips. He watched for some sign that Jonathan wasn't willing to do this, but Jonathan closed his eyes and opened his mouth, not quite inviting, but at least submitting. Adam pushed himself over his lips, at first nudging his lover's tongue, then when he felt the first suction, he slid inside the wet heat but stayed back from going too far. Jonathan's hands came up against his back, and a moment later fingernails scraped hard into his skin, raking down over his shoulder blades and spine. At the same time, Jonathan sucked hard on Adam’s dick, surprising Adam into a shocking, fierce orgasm, so hard it felt like he hadn’t had sex in months. 

Jonathan's fingers had attached themselves to his nipples, learning by mimicking, and the sensation turned Adam's world black for a split second. When he opened his eyes, Jonathan was still sucking gently on his softening cock, and he sat up carefully, collapsing to one side.

"Jesus, Jonathan. I thought you'd never done this before."

Jonathan reached for his own erection, but hesitated. "I'm good at working these things out." His expression was close to begging, and Adam could hardly deny him after that. 

Turning, Adam closed his mouth over the head of Jonathan’s dick and swallowed, lowering his head until his nose was pushing into the dark, wiry pubes at the base. Unlike his lover, Adam had done this before, and his experience had taught him a lot about the use of throat muscles that brought Jonathan to a swift, prolonged climax. Adam swallowed as enthusiastically as his lover had done, milking the rapidly softening dick for everything it had to give before releasing it. 

Jonathan closed his eyes, breathing heavily and Adam draped himself over his chest, snuggling down into Jonathan’s neck when a strong arm wrapped around his shoulder. He said something before he fell asleep, but Adam didn’t quite catch it.

~

Jonathan's flight back was at three thirty the following afternoon. They spent the morning at the theatre, arriving late to no one's surprise; they'd had a very late night getting drunk in the lively city. The rehearsal went perfectly, or at least, what Jonathan saw of it. Saying goodbye was going to be awkward, he knew. Saying good morning certainly had been. And so as Adam sealed Gayle into the 'Queen of Hearts' cabinet, Jonathan left a note in his employer's dressing room and left the theatre, walking back to the hotel to grab his bag and call a taxi. 

By the time Adam found the scrawled note, Jonathan would be in the air, 28,000 feet up, safely out of the way. 

_'Remember, the switches go to the left, not to the right. That way, it won't go off in your hand. See you in a week. Love ya, J'_

~

Standing at the top of Bode Manor's magnificent staircase, Jonathan pointed out the small but powerful speakers set almost invisibly into the corners at the base of the walls. Two of the hotel's owners, and five of its staff watched in relief as he went on to explain how surround sound can be used to give the impression that someone was moving across the landing. 

One person watched in anger as his life's work was reduced to simple electronic trickery by some young smart-arse who had nothing to do with anything. 

"...it’s easy to believe that in a place like this, guests are more susceptible to ghost stories. Most people want to believe that there's more to this existence than just the one life we know. Shadows can be cast be simply swinging a light shade. Late at night, in a house that's already surrounded by stories of hauntings, put some vague shadows together with a very convincing sound effect, and a lot of people will see what their imaginations tell them they're seeing. We want to believe in magic and we want to believe in ghosts. Even if there's no such thing as either." He stood, dusting his hands off on his trousers. "And if it's just sound effects, then someone is doing it on purpose. Someone with a reason to want to cause the hotel to lose customers. Someone with a grudge against the hotel owners perhaps?" 

"The usual reason for professional grudges is dismissal, when the employee believes he or she was innocent. And a rummage through the company's records came up with only one possible candidate - someone who'd already been sacked from one hotel, who cooked up a new identity and a new CV and managed to get re-employed at this hotel, for the sole reason of getting his own back." 

On cue, Maddy handed Jonathan two folded pieces of A4, which he opened. 

"Two years ago, a cook who'd worked at the Sherston Hotel in Sandy for six years was sacked for allegedly spitting in the soup of a guest he detested. Two months ago, a new valet was taken on here." Jonathan held up two photocopied pictures, taken at different times, and obviously a couple of years apart, but very clearly of the same person. That was the climax, his moment of triumph. And in that moment Jonathan was grabbed from behind, a strong arm wrapping around his neck, tightening until he could barely draw a breath. And Hugo Bennett held a knife to his throat. 

~

One Week Later

"Hi, guys." Adam greeted the stage crew that was already putting the equipment they'd taken on tour back into place. Amsterdam, Madrid and Lyon had all gone like a dream, the shows running with technical perfection, but no city had been as incredible as Reykjavik. None held quite the same quality of memory.

"Adam! Hi!" Tim, their technical director, jumped down off the stage. "How'd it all go? Rave reviews, we've been hearing." He grinned madly at his boss; somehow Adam always made successes belong to them all. Mind you, he did the same with failures too.

"Absolutely. Heavenly. Especially Reykjavik. Fantastic audiences, fantastic cities." He looked around. "Is Jonathan in yet?"

When Tim's face fell, Adam felt something catch inside him. "You haven't heard?"

Suddenly all those unanswered phone calls were huddling together at the forefront of his memory. "Heard what?"

"Oh, man. He and... that friend of his - Maddy? They'd been looking into this ghost story at a hotel down south. They cornered this guy who'd been up to something and he freaked out. He grabbed Jonathan and held a knife to his throat. Apparently he dragged him out to the car park and when they got close to the car he slashed Jonathan's throat."

Adam felt the blood drain from his face. "Oh my God...."

Tim reached out instinctively to steady him. "He's okay.... The papers said that Maddy sat with her hand tight to his throat while they called for an ambulance. Said there was blood everywhere." He pulled a face. "The guy drove off and smashed into a tree or something, killed himself."

"When... when was all this?"

"Last Friday, I think. He's out of hospital now. A few of us visited. We sent a card, flowers, big fluffy rabbit..." 

~

"I wish you'd sit down, you're supposed to be taking it easy." Maddy crossed her arms, giving Jonathan one of her patented 'hard stare' specials. 

He returned fire with the puppy dog look that always melted her. "I'm only making a pot of tea."

"This morning you were only washing the dishes." But she couldn't stay angry with him for more than a couple of seconds. Just seeing him up and about was a relief. 

The first afternoon in the hospital had been a nightmare. Jonathan had lost so much blood. He'd lain in a small cubicle in the A&E department of the Guildford Royal Infirmary, deathly pale, an IV transfusing blood into him. The doctor tried to reassure Maddy that her friend was in no danger of losing his life; he was strong and healthy. But she fretted anyway, drinking more coffee in two hours than she usually would in a week. 

She'd eventually called Barry - her publisher - and he'd driven down from London to be with her. And they'd waited. Twelve hours after being rushed into the hospital, Jonathan was eventually found a bed and was moved into a ward. The painkillers they'd given him made him woozy, and it was several hours after that when he woke, stable enough that the doctors finally allowed the police to speak to him. 

"Go back to your writing," Jonathan told her patiently. "I'll bring your tea up."

She sighed, giving him a stare of mock-anger, and then went back upstairs to where she had her computer set up in his living room. No way was she going to try to write this latest chapter of her new book on his antique typewriter. 

 

Jonathan was just pouring the tea when there was a knock at the door, loud and fast and desperate. He heard Maddy call down from upstairs, but he shouted back that he was okay and went to answer the door. He had an inkling of who it was, and he was proven right when he pulled open the door and saw Adam, standing there, shifting from foot to foot. The moment Adam set eyes on Jonathan he stepped forward to envelope him in a tight hug. 

Jonathan winced as the skin around his healing wound was stretched, but he went smiling into the embrace, folding his right arm between them but managing to wrap his left around Adam's waist.

"I'm okay," he tried to reassure. But he could feel Adam actually shaking and he knew this would just take a little time. 

"Tim told me...."

"I'm sorry. They only released me late yesterday evening. I wasn't sure what time you were getting back...." Very gently, he pulled back, half-inviting, half-pulling Adam in. 

"Was it... really as bad as Tim said?"

Jonathan shrugged, "It all happened so fast.... He only managed to nip the artery with the tip of the blade.” For a second they looked at one another. Then Jonathan ducked out of the intense regard and went back to the kettle. "Coffee?"

Adam followed him over to the work surface. "What happened?"

"I told you about the guy who'd been pulling a 'Scooby Doo' on the guests at this hotel to put it out of business?" Adam nodded. "Well, he had some grudge against the owners 'cause they'd sacked him from another of their hotels. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a bit of a madman. I did the old 'wrap up' routine and suddenly he grabbed me and put a knife to my throat." Jonathan boiled the kettle again, taking the jar of coffee down from the cupboard. "We got out into the car park and he must have decided that I was too much trouble."

"Oh God...." 

He picked up a teaspoon, but didn't get much further. Adam's hand on his arm made him pause and look up. This time when Adam reached for him, he put both his arms around his friend, wrapping them around Adam's waist as in turn he was held.

"You can't scare me like that," Adam murmured firmly. "I can't lose you. What would I do without you?"

There was no real answer and for a while they just stood together in silence. He wasn’t one to put his emotions on display but Jonathan understood that Adam needed to be sure that everything really was all right, that his life wasn’t suddenly about to slide out from under him. 

 

What Maddy saw then, when she padded quietly down into the kitchen, could have been two close friends reassuring one another after a scare. She was touched. For a long time she hadn't been sure that Adam cared about Jonathan at all, but recently she'd been witness to a few simple displays of affection that had forced her to change her opinion. Mind you, they had been through their fair share of crisis lately. 

 

Stepping away, smiling self-consciously, Jonathan spooned some coffee granules into a mug and boiled the kettle for the third time. It took a few seconds to reheat, and he finally managed to finish making their drinks. As he handed the mug of coffee to Adam, he held on to the mug for a second too long. "How was the rest of the tour?"

Adam didn’t answer the question. "You should have had someone phone me."

Jonathan cocked his head to one side, feeling his mouth turning up in his usual affectionate expression, the one he kept for Adam. "Why? What could you have done?"

"Worried?" 

He shook his head and glanced up, seeing Maddy standing on the stairs. “Hey, your tea’s ready.”

The three of them sit around the kitchen table. An over-stuffed cuddly rabbit is already seated and Adam looked sceptically again at it. "The guys at the theatre really bought you this?"

Jonathan nodded, smiling. "The nurses loved it." 

Adam raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. 

"Sorry I almost got your consultant killed," Maddy volunteered into the growing silence. 

Adam saw the smile on Jonathan's face; obviously they'd already had the conversation relinquishing her of any blame. "I doubt either of you could have predicted what was going to happen." Adam wasn’t so sure.

"No. Out of all the criminals we've outed, he was the first one to go crazy on us." Jonathan sipped his tea. "I never expected someone who'd gone to such incredible lengths to set up what was a fantastically elaborate trick to be the kind of person that would go for my throat with a switchblade."

Adam shook his head. "It's always the quiet ones." 

~

Much later that night, with Maddy fast asleep in Jonathan's bed, Jonathan and Adam watched the stars from the balcony of the windmill.

"It's really something out here," Adam murmured with quiet appreciation as he moved to stand behind Jonathan where he was leaning on the railing. He wrapped his arms around the slim waist, rested the side of his face against the dark curls. "I do wish you'd be more careful with this sideline of yours."

Jonathan leaned back against him with a contented sigh. It felt good to hold him like this. "You can talk. What you do isn't exactly risk-free is it? As you proved." 

He felt Jonathan's hands settle on his arms where they circled him. "Thank you for Reykjavik."

He hummed softly. "I found your note. I thought... I might have gone too far, that night, what we did...."

"We were both still drunk," Jonathan murmured, non-committal. 

"So you do think we went too far?" 

He dropped his head back to Adam’s shoulder. "This is all new, Adam. I never expected this, least of all with you. What do you want out of this?" 

Adam closed his eyes, resisting the urge to declare his feelings, still so unsure of whether or not he could trust them. How many times had he told Jonathan, 'This one's the real thing, I can feel it, her smile lights up my life.'? How many times had he been wrong? Why hadn't he mentioned the young woman who had been his volunteer for 'Psycho' in Lyon? Or the two girls who had recognized him on the street in Madrid last Wednesday afternoon? Did he expect Jonathan to be jealous? How would he feel if he were to leave now, knowing that Jonathan would go up and climb into bed with Maddy? What did he want out of this? 

As if reading his mind, Jonathan broke the silence by asking quietly, "You couldn't really call either of us experts at this relationship thing, could you?" He turned and broke out of Adam's arms, picking up one of his hands and holding it as he leaned back against the metal railing, smiling. "We've always been good together whatever we've tried. We've just added something to our repertoire, that's all."

Adam nodded and smiled. "I like that." He did. It kept things very uncomplicated.

"Good. Now get out of here and let me get some sleep. Unless you're after a threesome...."

However uncertain he was about leaving, he absolutely didn’t want that. Stepping back, he raised a halting hand. "No. Thank you." But he lingered, basking in the affection in the expression on Jonathan’s face. "I do love you, he said quietly, "you must know that."

Head bowing, maybe embarrassed to be hearing the words, Jonathan nodded. "But thanks for reminding me."

 

Out in front of the windmill, they stood beside Adam's little-used BMW, Jonathan with his hands in his pockets, Adam playing with his car keys.

"Theatre tomorrow? Ten?"

Adam sighed. "Jonathan, you're supposed to be resting, recuperating, remember?"

"I'm fine. And we need to start going through ideas for the new season." Jonathan's hopeful determination apparently wasn't going to be defeated, and the truth was that Adam wanted him around. He gave up, nodded and unlocked the car, opening the door. In the next moment, he turned and met Jonathan's kiss half way. Jonathan pressed into him, wrapped his arms around him and opened his mouth under his.

Adam couldn’t keep the moan from breaking loose, aware of his body reacting to the intimate touch, to Jonathan’s too. 

 

Both were too wrapped up in each other to notice their audience on the balcony above. She'd had her suspicions, of course, but having them confirmed in so definite a way.... It was a sight she wasn’t going to forget in a hurry. 

 

With hellish difficulty Jonathan broke off the kiss. Breathing hard against Adam's neck he stayed there for a few more long moments, held tightly, wanting nothing more at that moment than to spend the night in Adam's arms. When he did finally take a single step back, he steadied himself against the top of the car door. 

"Go." 

Adam nodded, but still he hesitated. Jonathan read the look in his eyes and understood perfectly. "I want you to stay too."

He nodded again, then he climbed into the car and pulled the door closed. Jonathan backed up as the engine roared to life, and watched until the BMW was out of the gate and out of sight. Then he stood for some time just staring at the place in the dark where he’d last seen Adam’s brake lights, lost in the mess in his head until something made him look up.

There was no one on the balcony, but he felt sure that there had been. 

When he eventually went back inside, he spotted the white envelope sitting on the kitchen table, a long stemmed red rose lying over it. 

Frowning, he switched on the kitchen light and lifted the flower, holding it carefully, wondering where the hell it had come from. Finally, he picked up the envelope and opened it. 

_'Amazing, isn't it? Maybe you'll make a true conjurer of me yet. Love you, A.'_


End file.
